As long as rice needs for the harvest...

We had been gone only for one harvest of rice. 

This was in my head while driving the way from Kathmandu to Pokhara along the rice fields, where the sheaves were standing. Now we are back in a sunny Germany, where the green before we left has changed in the golden colors of fall.

Working routine got us back, and so the update of this blog will need a while. Thank you for your patience! If you want to know more, you can subscribe for the newsletter.

God is still greater

Though sometimes I had my doubts – it is just a lot of compacted work left to do for most of us from the team before the departure – it’s more and more clear to see that it is absolutely right to fly to Nepal next Friday.

1. In the meantime our friend Phil had to go to Katmandu to the hospital, his wife Manju accompanies him. He writes that he is really weak and suffers a severe weight loss. When I read the last time from him, the results of the tests weren’t already there. Please, continue to pray for him!

2. The Schmieg family. I haven’t written about them yet, I don’t know them personal. They had been to Nepal with the Wiedenest mission to minister in an out of the way village to the Sherpas there. In April we heard, that one of her little boys is sick all the time. Now they had to go back to Germany in a rush, because the son suffers a severe illness. They had to leave most of their things in Nepal, although they are looking for somebody to continue their work with the Sherpas.

3. We don’t have contact to Mustang right now and it seems as if we have to organize many things when we arrive in Katmandu. Due to Phil’s illness it will get quite adventurous with our tickets and permits.

Everything that has to do with this country seems to be so attacked!

Each morning when I pull into the parking lot at my school I see this big poster on the window side: “God is still greater”. It is supposed to continue with “…as cancer”; God healed one of our colleagues in a miraculous way from cancer and his students wrote this poster and hang it outside the window from their class room in first floor. The second part got washed away by the rain. This is a picture for me that I can fill out this spare place with everything that afflicts me, that gets in the way, that seems to be difficult. GOD IS STILL GREATER!

Prayer request for this week

Please, pray with us for our friend, Phil, who is not doing good at all. His doctor couldn't find out what's wrong with him, so he has to go to Katmandu for further tests. If you would like to recieve the newsletter with more information, just send us an email.

A little more than a month

- and we will be in the plane heading for Doha and further on to Katmandu.
At the moment travel preparations are getting more intense. We need permits, tickets and accommodation in the land. Our friend in Pokhara is about to call Mendok's familiy in the next days to inform them about the details for the second surgery. The weather is quite bad and the connection to Jomsom is not available every day. Please also pray for our friend, he is not doing well with his health.
If you want to get the latest newsletter or the newsletters at all, just send an email.
We feel every time again how God spins little small threads for this Nepal trip. We are curious about the things He will do!
Please also pray for our American friends, right now we are not sure if they can meet us in Nepal.
For people in the Siegen area: there will be prayer for our trip at church on Sunday, October 9th (Calvary Chapel Siegen). There you will get also more detailed information and specific prayer requests.

We get started...

Last week we booked the tickets for the outreach this fall. With a small team of 5 we wil follow the invitation of our friends and be two weeks in Nepal. Mostly in Lupra where Mendok's school is located, but also at the Shushma Koirala Hospital in Sankhu.
We also hope that some friends from the US will be added to our team.
So far we start with the preparations: setting a date for Mendoks surgery, to plan travels in Nepal, check for places to stay... we are thankful for all kinds of support!

Danyabat!

That means "thank you" in Nepali - thank you to everyone, that helped with the cake fundraising on Sunday at CC Siegen. Either by baking or buying a cake. It was a great encouragement for our small team. You sponsered almost a whole flight on Sunday. :-) This week we are going to book the flights, again we are a little late for that. We will get the last available flights, but everything fits: 5 flights left for booking and 5 people going to Nepal
What's next: getting in contact with interplast because of the second surgery date for Mendok, the detailed travel plans and preparing for the time at Mendok's school. 
We still need financial support. The flights in fall are more expensive, because it is one of the main travel seaosons to Nepal. The economic crisis also reached Nepal, namely with a little delay, but together with some political quarrels it is reason enough for the gas prices to rise. This makes travelling in the country more expensive, also.
But: if God opens a door, nothing and no one will be able to close it.

News from Jomsom

From an email a friend send to us who is in Jomsom right now:
"I got to meet Mendok's mother. She told me Mendok has joined school, and she is doing well. Her teeth have started growing and there are times wehn it hurts. But other then that there is no problem."
Bina, Mendok's mother, sends many greetings. This Sunday we will met with interested people to pray about the trip this coming fall and to plan more detailed.